Type Ia Supernova Flame Front (2D)

Ignition

Progenitor & Flame

Central density ρ_c 2.0×10⁹ g/cm³

Rayleigh–Taylor azimuthal modes 14

Time compression 1.0×

DDT trigger density 1.0×10⁸ g/cm³

Flame State

Unignited

Elapsed time

0.00 s

Flame speed

0 km/s

Mass burned

0.000 M☉

Burned fraction

0.0%

Energy released

0.00 foe

⁵⁶Ni yield

0.000 M☉

Front roughness (max−min radius)

0 km

How this 2D model works

This is an independent 2D disk cross-section of the same white dwarf, not a flattened render of the 3D scene. Tracer mass here is sampled with the correct 2D annulus weighting — mass in a ring [r, r+dr] scales as r·shape(r)·dr in 2D (versus r²·shape(r)·dr for a 3D shell) — so the radial mass histogram genuinely differs from the 3D model's tracer field, even though both share the same underlying density shape ρ(r) = ρ_c(1−(r/R)²).

Laminar speed:   v_lam(ρ) ≈ v₀ (ρ/ρ₀)^0.8
Turbulent speed: v_RT ≈ v_lam × (1 + 0.15 N_modes), capped below 0.3 c_s(ρ)
Sound speed:     c_s(ρ) ≈ c₀ (ρ/ρ₀)^(1/6)   [degenerate electron gas]

The Rayleigh-Taylor wrinkling of the front is built as a genuine 2D azimuthal Fourier spectrum: each of the N selected modes contributes ±cos(m·θ − φ) at its own integer wavenumber m and random phase φ, summed and normalised — the 2D analogue of decomposing a 3D RT-unstable shell into spherical harmonics, done directly in the plane instead of projecting a sphere. Once the flame reaches a low enough density ahead of it (deflagration-to-detonation transition, DDT), it jumps to a supersonic detonation front near v_det ≈ 0.8 c_s(ρ).

E ≈ Σ e(ρ_local) · m_particle,   e_Ni56 ≈ 9.2×10¹⁷ erg/g,  e_IME ≈ 3×10¹⁷ erg/g
1 foe = 10⁵¹ erg

Central density — sets local flame speed and how much of the star burns all the way to ⁵⁶Ni.
RT azimuthal modes — number of independent Fourier wavenumbers superposed into the front's angular wrinkle; more modes roughen the front and raise its area-averaged speed.
DDT trigger density — the density ahead of the flame at which it jumps from deflagration to detonation.
Front roughness — the live max−min of the wrinkled front radius over all angles, the direct 2D diagnostic of how strongly Rayleigh-Taylor turbulence is corrugating the flame right now.

Unburned C/O Burned → ⁵⁶Ni / Fe Detonation shock